Archive for August, 2007

Check out http://www.di.fm/edmguide/edmguide.html, an animated guide to all things EDM. Colourful and attempting to trace and explicate the myriad outgrowths of the genre, the commentary is far from objective, but the tracks in the embedded media player give newbies some idea of what seems to be what – plus a splitting headache.

One of the best editions of ‘Trance Around The World with Above & Beyond’ was the 178th show that aired on 24th August, featuring a special 2-Hour summer Anjunabeach Mix. You can listen to it again at the Anjunabeats website. In fact, I’ll go so far as to say it’s the best thing they’ve done since the Radio 1 Essential Mix of 2004. Check out the tracklist below:

22 glorious tunes, 22 reasons why trance is to summer like bees are to honey. As a matter of fact, Anjunabeats should release this mix as a companion volume to Worldwide 1 – call it ‘Anjunabeats Worldwide 2: the Anjunabeach Summer Mix’ or something. A guaranteed best-seller, I tell you.

Am particularly impressed by the new Oceanlab tune, ‘Breaking Ties’. Justine Suissa again proves she’s as much a part of Oceanlab as Jono, Tony and Paavo. It’s been a long time since the last Oceanlab tune – ‘Sirens of the Sea’ (and only the Kyau vs Albert Remix at that) – so I hope this is evidence that the long-awaited Oceanlab album that the boys keep saying exists is finally on again and going to be released – any day now, I hope.

Was browsing at HMV yesterday and picked up the Oscar-winning documentary short Twin Towers:

I had read that this work was shaped around footage shot by Law and Order producer Dick Wolf for his new reality show about Emergency Services Unit (ESU) cops, so I was really hoping for a compelling piece of story-telling. Unfortunately, that wasn’t to be the case. While we learn some about Squad 3 and the people that make up life as an ESU cop, too much time is spent on profiling John Vigiano, one half of the Twin Towers. Apart from photos, we never even get to learn anything meaningful about his firefighter brother John Jr, which is a real shame since you’d think the title calls for at least some coverage of John’s life and his work. Okay, so it’s a short, but the documentary really feels incomplete without it. The music stirs of heroism and unmet promises, though. With three weeks to go before the 6th anniversary of 9/11, this documentary is a fitting reminder of the everyday heroism of public servants who put their lives on the line each day, in this age of terrorism.

Ever since I purchased (and wore, and got Jono and Tony to sign on) my grey Anjuna tee, and especially after my last purchasing debacle with CDJshop.com, I’ve been coveting the following for quite some time now:

I don’t understand why The Shop never bothers to stock up on bigger sizes, or bring in more numbers in one shipment. It’s like they pride themselves in keeping their merchandise off the shelves. And the best thing is, they send me an email saying that an item is now in stock, but a check on their website reveals otherwise. WTF? I’m so tempted to bring my grey tee to Bangkok and get one of the hundreds of T-shirt designer vendors stationed in places like MBK to make me a whole Anjuna line. That would be a huge “S**ew you” to The Shop, wouldn’t it?

So Time does fly, and with turbo-charged speed, we’re heading toward the final innings with the scores still – unknown. Some of my charges don’t seem to understand the gravity of the situation, judging by their admittedly hilarious inventions in their essay plans. It hasn’t come down to the wire yet, and there’s the one-week break for those who need to do catch up, but I am seriously worried. Maybe for no good reason, but something tells me there’s always a good reason to worry.

So it’s the Department’s turn to get photo-opped today, and the ladies all dolled themselves up nicely and everything, except The Boss didn’t show. What’s up with that, I don’t know. I could see some pretty dissed faces. I know it’s not easy to wake up at 5 in the morning and try to look like Christie Brinkley without much success.

It’s taken a while, but the routine has started to settle in. I’m not unhappy or anything, but it’s true something the routine can get you down, especially if it’s more of the same and you aren’t in the right frame of mind to blaze a trail that will add colour to your life. Which is why I’m kinda pissed the iShop people didn’t get back to me regarding the DJing workshop. That would have been really something to look forward to. Especially after the disaster of Wednesday. I have been feeling pretty tired lately – I’m even yawning as I’m typing this. Whether it’s just fatique or boredom or a dangerous cocktail of both I don’t know. All’s I’m saying is I can’t wait for the term break. But first, I have to play the fool, be some comic relief, next Friday, before it can happen.

All Members of The Job go through this.
I just finished it.
Two words:
Supersized Disaster!
Why?
In a nutshell:
It was boring.
I was boring.
I was bored.
It’ll take a while for
the feedback to come in
for the dust to settle.

I first heard Evbointh’s One Wish during TATW #137 in October 2006, and was at once taken by its dreamy, atmospheric soundscape. Imagine my delight when Anjunabeats released the Original Mix plus this gem – the Daniel Kandi & Mark Andrez Remix:

I find this remix a good example of how to add value to an already strong tune – by thoughtfully reinterpreting it based on the strengths the remixer is known for. This has to be done with discretion; for example, Sean Tyas remixes tend to be impositions of his signature characteristics on the tunes, which in some cases – Oceanic, for example – can detract from their original quality. Check it out at cdjshop.com.

The 2-disc Special Edition of United 93 arrived a couple of days ago. Finally got the chance to watch the documentaries and here’s a capsule review:

I had my heart set on this edition because I wanted to view the bonus documentary “Chasing Planes: Witnesses to 9/11”. As it turns out, it wasn’t at all that special, neither did it contain extra information which watching the movie and reading the 9/11 Commission Report would have not sufficed. While they did a good job acknowledging with candor the confusion and the breakdown in the ATC C&C cycle, it would have been better if they had included an exploration of how things have changed since 9/11 – if, indeed, it has. That would have made for a much fuller and richer discussion.

By far, the gem was the featurette “United 93: The Families and the Film”. Finally we get to see the surviving loved ones of Deora, Jeremy, Lauren, Debbie, Hilary, Louis, Richard, Alan and a couple of others, after having read about them in – among other works – Jere Longman’s Among the Heroes: United Flight 93 and the Passengers and Crew Who Fought Back. While Liz Glick seems the most composed of them all, there is a very palpable sense that for the others, 9/11 remains as raw today as it was on that day. It was indeed an experience watching the heartfelt reactions of the actors who played the passengers as they get to meet the family members and hear first-hand about the people whom they had portrayed. Watching them left me wondering if Lisa Beamer and Deena Burnett played any part in the making of the film, but you sort of are grateful that this gives the less-publicised family members a chance to air their stories. Greengrass’ commentary on the film is potent yet understated – his take on the juxtaposition of modernity and medievalism in the story of 9/11 is one of Friedman’s running themes in The World is Flat (which deserves proper consideration in its own entry). Overall, really worth my 77 bucks.

4 days of glorious not having to think about work. Going to be over soon. Put your ear onto any wall tonight and listen carefully – you’re bound to hear, sotto voce, the curses of young people and not-so-young Members of The Job, as they get ready to head back into the breach tomorrow. Bleah.